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Early life and education

John William Warner was born on February 18, 1927, in Washington, D.C., to John W. and Martha Budd Warner. He grew up in Washington, where he attended the elite
St. Albans School before graduating from
Woodrow Wilson High School in February 1945.

Personal life

In 1957, Warner married banking heiress Catherine Conover Mellon, the daughter of art collector
Paul Mellon and his first wife, Mary Conover, and the granddaughter of
Andrew Mellon. By his marriage, Warner accrued substantial capital for investing and expanding his political contacts. The Warners, who divorced in 1973, have three children: Virginia, John Jr, and Mary. His former wife now uses the name Catherine Conover.[2]

John Warner married actress
Elizabeth Taylor on December 4, 1976 at the Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia. They divorced on November 7, 1982.

On December 15, 2003, Warner married Jeanne Vander Myde, a real estate agent who specializes in Northern Virginia properties. She is also the widow of White House official Paul Vander Myde.[3]

Following Ford's defeat, Warner began to consider political office for himself. He entered politics in the 1978 Virginia election for U.S. Senate. Despite the publicity of being Elizabeth Taylor's husband and the large amounts of money Warner used in his campaign for the nomination, he finished second at the state
Republican Party (GOP) convention to the far more conservative politician
Richard D. Obenshain. Much of this loss was due to his perceived liberal political stances, especially his soft approach to Soviet relations. In contrast Obenshain was a noted anti-Soviet, a hardline anti-communist, and an opponent of other liberal policies including the
Great Society and much of the
Civil Rights Movement. However, fate intervened when Obenshain died two months later in a plane crash. Consequently, Warner was chosen to replace him and narrowly won the general election over
DemocratAndrew P. Miller, former
Attorney General of Virginia. He was in the Senate until January 3, 2009. Despite his less conservative policy stances, Warner managed to be the second longest-serving senator in Virginia's history, behind only
Harry F. Byrd, Sr., and by far the longest-serving Republican Senator from the state. On August 31, 2007, Warner announced that he would not seek re-election in 2008.

Warner was quite moderate, especially in comparison to most Republican Senators from the South. He was among the minority of Republicans to support
gun control laws. He voted for the
Brady Bill and, in 1999, was one of only five Republicans to vote to close the so-called
gun show loophole. In 2004 Warner was one of three Republicans to sponsor an amendment by Senator
Dianne Feinstein (
D-
CA) that sought to provide for a 10-year extension of the
Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

Warner supported[4] the Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights and supported
embryonic stem cell research,[5] although he received high ratings from
pro-life groups because he voted in favor of many abortion restrictions.[6] On June 15, 2004, Warner was among the minority of his party to vote to expand
hate crime laws to include
sexual orientation as a protected category. He supports a constitutional amendment banning
same-sex marriage, but he raised concerns about the most recent
Federal Marriage Amendment as being too restrictive, as it would have potentially banned civil unions as well.

In 1987, Warner was one of the few Republicans who voted to reject the nomination of
Robert Bork by President
Ronald Reagan and the only Southerner to do so.[7]

Warner was re-elected easily in 1984 and 1990, and faced his first real challenge for re-election in 1996 from political newcomer Democrat
Mark Warner (no relation). Mark Warner was a millionaire who vastly outspent the incumbent and produced an unusually close election, but John Warner prevailed with 52% of the vote.

As was the case in 1990, Warner faced no Democratic opposition in 2002, winning re-election to a fifth term in the Senate by a landslide over an independent candidate.[citation needed]

On May 23, 2005, Warner was one of 14 centrist senators (
Gang of 14) to forge a compromise on the Democrats' proposed use of the judicial
filibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called
nuclear option. Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and three Bush
appellate court nominees (
Janice Rogers Brown,
Priscilla Owen and
William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate.

On September 17, 2006, Warner said that U.S. military and intelligence personnel in future wars will suffer for abuses committed in 2006 by the US in the name of fighting terrorism. He feared that the administration’s civilian lawyers and a president who never saw combat were putting U.S. service personnel at risk of torture, summary executions and other atrocities by chipping away at
Geneva Conventions’ standards that have protected them since 1949. Following the Supreme Court ruling on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which was adverse to the Bush Administration, Warner (with Senators
Lindsey Graham and
John McCain) negotiated with the White House the language of the
Military Commissions Act of 2006, suspending
habeas corpus provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant" and barring them from challenging their detentions in court. Warner's vote gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, permitting the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005.[10]
Warner's "compromise" (approved by a Republican majority) authorized the President to establish permissible interrogation techniques and to "interpret the meaning and application" of international
Geneva Convention standards, so long as the coercion falls short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury.[11][12] Warner maintains that the new law holds true to "core principles" that the U.S. provide fair trials and not be seen as undermining Geneva Conventions.[13] The bill was signed into law on October 17, 2006, in Warner's presence.[14][15][16]

On August 23, 2007, he called on President Bush to begin bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas in order to make it clear to the Iraqi leadership that the U.S. commitment is not indefinite.[18]

On August 31, 2007, he announced that he would not seek a sixth term in the Senate in 2008.[19]

In September 2008, Warner joined the
Gang of 20, a bipartisan coalition seeking comprehensive energy reform. The group is pushing for a bill that would encourage state-by-state decisions on
offshore drilling and authorize billions of dollars for conservation and alternative energy.[20]

The annual Senator John W. Warner Award is given to a third year undergraduate student at the University of Virginia who exhibits a serious, convincing ambition to seek future election to public office. This award honors an individual who strives for service in an elected office, whether it is a part-time city council position or a full-time legislative or executive office. Successful candidates demonstrate the required courage to stand up and ask fellow citizens for their valued vote. The award of up to $3,000 funds a research project in an area that will inform the recipient's future career as an elected official. Award recipients include: John Jacob Nay, Casey Enders, James Linville, and Sarah Buckley.[28]